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(No Model.) 7

A. EWINS.

GAS ENGINE.

No.-Z'78,421 Pat ented MayZQ, 1883.

PIC-.1.

Witnesses.

Inventor. 4 5M y UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JAMES .A. .EWINS, OF BIRMINGHAM, OOUNTYOF \VARWIOK, ENGLAND, AS-

SIGNORTO TOM BIRKETT BARKER, OF SAME PLACE.

GAS-ENGINE.-

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 278,421, dated May 29,1883.

Application filed March l'l, 1883. (No model.) Patented in England March 29, 1881,1So 1,388, and in Belgium February 18 1882.

- No. 57,115. Y

ful Improvementsin Gas-Engines, (for which I have received Letters Patent in Great B ritai n,

No; 1,388, dated March 29, 1881, and in Belgium, No. 57,115, dated February 18, 1882,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to the igniting appliances of gas-engines for exploding the mixture of gas and air by which the piston of the gas-engine is worked.

' The igniting appliances constructed accort ingto my invention consist, substantially, of a disk, plate, or valve having either a rectilinear or rotary motion, the said motions being either continuous or intermittent, the said plate being situated atthe' back or other convenient part of the explosion-chamber to which the mixture of gas and air is supplied. The said plate or valve is-l'urnished with a slit ,or opening, or a. series ofequidistant slits or open ings, the said slits or one of the said slits at each forward movement or impulseof the said plate or valve momentarily uncovering a hole or slit in the explosion-chamber, so that an external gasjet or flame situated near thelastnamed hole'or slit is made to ignite the explosive mixture in the chamber and effect the propulsion of the piston. The said plate or valve maybe worked by ratchet-gear from the principal shaft of the engine, or by toothed or other equivalent gearing.

Figure l of the accompanying drawings represents a front elevation of a portion of a gasengine containing my improvements. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same, partly in horizontal section, thesectional part exhibiting theigniting-plate at its point of ignition, and also exhibiting the water -jacke t around the working cylinder. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the engineexhibiting the details of the air and gas inlet valves and exhaust-valves, the said Fig. 4. beingdrawn to a larger scale than Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

- In the gas-engine represented a disk or plate having an intermittent rotary motion is em Fig. 4,

ployed, the said disk having a series of equi distant radial slots.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in theseveral figures of the drawings.

a isthe working-cylinder of the engine, pro-' vided with a water-jacket, b, for the circulation of water around the working-cylinder for keeping it cool. At the back of the said cylinder a is a chamber, 0, into which the mixture .of gas and air is drawn and in which it is exploded, the. said chamber a forming a contin nation of the working-cylinder of the engine. (See Fig. 3.) At one side of the explosionchamber 0 is a mixing-chamber, d, to which the gas and air are supplied and in which they are mixed, 0 being the inlet gas-supply pipe, andfthe inlet air-supply pipe; h, the valve of the gaspipe, opening inward, and'i the valve of the air-pipe, also openinginward. Stops lllimit the rising motion of the two valves h 2'. Communication is efiected between the mixing-chamberdand the explosion-chamber cby means of the side passage shown in Working against the back of the explosion chamber 0 is the igniting appliance, consisting of the disk plate or valve me having an intermittent rotary motion on the axis In and pressed against the chamber by a coiled spring. In the said plate, disk, or valve m is a series of radial holes or slits, a, and in the path of the said holes or slits a similar hole or slit, p, is made in the back of the explosionchamber 0. (See Fig. 3.) stationed near the hole or slit 1) is an external gasjet or flame, q, I

by means of which the explosive mixture is ignited. At each forward movementor impulse of the igniting plate or valve m one of its holes, a, is momentarily brought over and made to coincide with the hole or slit-19 in the explosionchamber 0, and communication is thereby established between the external flame q and the gaseous mixture in the said chamber a. consequence of the slight exhaustin the chamber c the flame isdrawn into the said chamber and the said mixture is exploded and made to propel the piston r, as is well understood. It

stealer at the middle of each impulse or movement of ciding forigniting the gaseous mixture, and in Fig. 2 the slit or hole 1) (indicated in dotted lines) is shown covered by an unperforated part of the plate m.

The intermittent rotary motion of the igniting plate or valve m is represented in the drawings as being effected by-ratchet-gear. On the edge of the plate m is a series of ratchet-teeth, with which a pawl, s, engages. The pawl sis worked by the crank it on the rotating shaft u, the said shaft taking its motion by bevel-gearing, as represented, from the principal shaft of the engine. limit myself to the arrangement represented for working the intermittent rotary ignitingplate m, as other equivalent gearing may be employed. Neither do I limit myself to the shape of the slits or openings at, as openings of any other form may be employed.

The gas and air are drawn into the mixingchamber (1 through the pipes efand valves h i and into the explosion-chamber c by the forward or advance motion of the piston 7' of the engine, and the products of combustion are ejected from the cylinder at through the exhaust-chamber w and the open exhaust-valve m bythe back or return stroke of the said piston. This valve :0 is kept open during the whole of the back or return stroke of the piston by the action of the cam y on the shaft u,

operating through the'cranked lever 11 on the spindle of the said valve, as best seen in Fig. 4.

I do not, however,

The gas-engine described and represented is a single-acting one-that is, the'piston is propelled in one direction only by the explosion of the gaseous mixture, the return or back mo tion of the piston being effected by the momentum of the fly-wheel; but by the addition of the igniting appliances and exhausting arrangement to the front end of the cylinder the engine may be madedouble-acting--that is,

the piston may be propelled in both directions by the explosion of the gaseous mixture.

Although I have represented my invention as applied to a horizontal gas-engine, I wish it to be understood that my invention is applicable .to any other form of gas-engine.

Having now described the nature of my invention and the manner'in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my invention- In a gas-engine, the combination, with the piston, the explosion-chamber provided with a slit or opening for the admission of flame thereto, the slotted or perforated plate, disk, or valve, and the external permanent burner, of operating mechanism, as explained, for movin g said plate, disk, or valve so as momentarily to uncover the aforesaid slit or opening during the advance of the piston and permit the flame I of the permanent burner to be drawn into the explosion 7 chamber by the partial vacuum formed in said chamber by the advance of the piston, substantially as described.

JAMES ALFRED EWINS. [L1 s.]

Witnesses:

' GEQRGESHAW,

RICHARD SKERRETT. 

